A woman allegedly murdered by her on-off boyfriend said he had emotionally hurt her and had hit her, a jury has been told.
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Ebru Mercan testified that after her friend Samah Baker revealed she had been hit, she suggested she get an AVO against him but "she brushed it off".
She was giving evidence at the NSW Supreme Court trial of James Hachem, 36, who has pleaded not guilty to murdering Ms Baker in January 2019.
The 30-year old NSW TAFE worker was reported missing from her Parramatta unit on January 5 and her body has never been found.
Ms Mercan said she first met Ms Baker in 2013 and towards the end of 2014 she talked of being in a relationship with "James".
She only saw him once when the women were out in Oxford Street and Ms Baker used Ms Mercan's phone to call him to come there and then introduced him.
"She told me she was now intimate with James," she said.
"From what I remember, it was on and off, on and off."
She was taken through online exchanges between the women.
In one, Ms Baker said "I started seeing James again for a short time" and referring to "the hell he put me through".
Ms Mercan asked what did he do, "he didn't hurt you did he?", and said he was not good for her and she deserved so much better.
Ms Baker replied "he hurt me emotionally" and later said "he is not a very nice person" but added it was OK and "it's all good now".
Ms Mercan said she needed to block him and Ms Baker replied: "Well not really 100 per cent".
She said she got a new number and needed to activate it.
Ms Mercan said the women met in a cafe in April 2018 when Ms Baker brought up James.
"At that time from what I remember, she was not with him and she revealed he had hit her," she said.
She brushed off Ms Mercan's suggestion that she take out an AVO.
Ms Baker also asked Ms Mercan if she was having an affair with James.
"Once she accused me. I said 'where did that come from, you are paranoid'."
Ms Baker than revealed she had linked it back to the Oxford Street meeting when she had borrowed Ms Mercan's phone to ring him.
She said she had exes who had cheated on her with her friends.
Ms Mercan told her she did not even know him and had only met him once.
Ms Baker blocked her on Facebook in May 2018 after Ms Mercan had been excitedly talking about her new job.
When she returned from a holiday in January 2019, she found out Ms Baker was missing and in March saw a news report which showed CCTV footage of her in an elevator.
She told prosecutor Helen Roberts SC she recognised James in that picture.
She told his barrister Daniel McMahon: "I saw the picture and I instantly recognised him".
She agreed his face was blurred but said she recognised him having only met him once.
"I saw the picture and I knew it was him," she said.
The trial, before Justice Robertson Wright, will continue on Monday.
Australian Associated Press
